The future looks promising for Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. A record 195 Kemp’s ridley nests were found on the Texas coast this nesting season, which runs from April to mid-July. It’s the fifth consecutive record-breaking year.

There are a few theories about why sea turtles make occasional excursions into very deep (> 1000 m) water. These involve escape from predation, thermoregulation, and prey availability. In the first two, sharks are fewer, so turtles can evade predation and “cool off” at the same time. Like ladies tanning on a balcony.

Think of an aquatic habitat as far away from the deep-sea as you can get without coming up on land, and we will find a connection to the deep-sea. River rock = settlement substrate. Kelp forest = urchin food. Beaches = spawning grounds for tuna food. Mangroves = seafood … food. Bumper stickers in the Carolinas say it best – “no wetlands, no seafood.”